


Six Degrees of Seperation

by starksnack



Series: Songficsfor the Soul [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, He actually gets multiple, Hurt Tony Stark, Inspired by Music, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Neck Kissing, Originally Posted on Tumblr, POV Tony Stark, Pepper is barely in this fic, Post-Break Up, Protective Steve Rogers, Sharing Body Heat, Sharing a Bed, Song Lyrics, Sorry Not Sorry, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark-centric, Vomiting, and then he gets with Steve, but this fic isnt mean to her, i also hate her, i believe it's called necking, i love him sm, it doesnt actually happen, only mentioned - Freeform, spoiler - Freeform, with Pepper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 16:38:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17564144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starksnack/pseuds/starksnack
Summary: Getting over Pepper Potts is a long and painful process. But Steve is there to help.





	Six Degrees of Seperation

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to Gee ([itsallAvengers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsallAvengers/pseuds/itsallAvengers))’s Stevetony [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Pd6QrxX4lsJosOSMh2znI)on Spotify and this song ([Six Degrees of Separation by the Script](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCT6Mu-pOeE)) was on it and I was like, this is fucking wild, I’m gonna write a fic based on the chorus. So I did.  
> This one is a little over 3k of stony, with past pepperony. And there is a little nsfw bit. No actual smut, just a nakey scene. *wink wonk* and  
> TW: for mentions of vomiting but no actual vomiting occurs (if I need to add atw tag, pls let me know)  
> Special thanks to [Snoozan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiruka/pseuds/SleepySnoozan) for betaing this fic. She got through this hella fast and even patiently explained to me how commas work, though I will continue to grossly misuse them because I’m a little shit.

**_First, you think the worst is a broken heart_ **

Tony hunched over in the lab, his stomach wound in knots as guilt pooled in his hips, hot and sick. He was sitting on the unyielding concrete floor, knees pulled up to his chest, with his back against his workbench leg. He was staring blankly at the bare casing where the armours used to be proudly lined up, empty shells of who he was.

Dum-E was whirring at his ear, claw snapping lightly at the sleeve of his shirt. U was a little further away, by Tony’s feet. Butterfingers was the only one who remained at his charging station where Tony had asked them all to stay.

Grief and loss slammed into him in never ending waves, like a vicious, unforgiving tide. It was like drowning, his lungs seizing in his chest, desperately trying to pull in air. His head slammed against the rocks, and then he was choking. 

“Tony? Tony can you hear me?”

There were warm fingers on his shoulders, and he was being pressed into a firm chest. He blinked up from where he was mashed against firm pecs to find Steve Rogers, who had somehow breached Tony’s increased security measures.

“St’ve?” Tony mumbled into his shirt. He didn’t move away, sagging into Steve’s chest and holding back a purr as gentle hands ran down his back. 

“Hey, hey.” He was being hefted into a warm embrace, his stomach lurching as a nauseous wave slammed into him from behind. “Jarvis said you haven’t eaten or slept in three days Tony.” Steve’s calm voice was a lighthouse in the furious crash of Tony’s emotions.

“Oh,” was all Tony managed to push out past parched lips as Steve carried him upstairs. His head lolled into Steve’s chest, the spicy smell of leather and Irish soap flooding his senses as he drowned in the warmth of Steve’s arms. It was only then that he realized that he had been shivering.

They were in the elevator, and Tony vaguely heard Steve telling Jarvis to take them to the penthouse. Tony would not have felt the smooth glide of the elevator if Steve hadn’t been tapping his foot with each passing floor.

The doors slid open,, and Steve stepped onto Tony’s floor, his bare feet soft on the carpet. He set Tony on the brown leather couch. 

“I need you to stay here,” he murmured, and Tony felt his eyes droop shut, heavy with the exhaustion of his emotions as he tipped his head back into the sofa cushions.

Tony felt the couch dip beside him with Steve’s weight, and suddenly there were warm fingers on his lips and food was pushing past his teeth. Tony obliged, biting down on the strawberry that was presented to him, his tongue darting against Steve’s fingers.

Pepper was allergic to strawberries. He had bought them for her as an apology gift. After all the shit and he was dying of palladium poisoning, the toxicity of his blood going up. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes; palladium poisoning was no excuse to be a horrible partner. Tony briefly wondered if that was when Pepper knew they couldn’t last too long. When Pepper finally decided she had had enough of Tony’s shitty personality, his whole laundry list of flaws, and every little thing he could never get right or remember.

“Hey, Tony, hey.” Steve’s hands pulled him into a sitting position with a grounding grip on his forearm. “What’s wrong?”

His face was being pressed into Steve’s warm pecs, and it was only the scratch of the wet fabric that alerted Tony to the tears spilling down his face. His hearing focused on the sounds in the room, hitching sobs that Tony realized were spilling past his own lips.

Steve’s mouth was wet against his forehead, pressing a reassuring kiss to his hairline and running a soothing hand through his hair. “You’re gonna be okay Tony,” Steve murmured, his other hand rubbing circles into the tense plane of Tony’s back. “I’m here for you.”

“She left,” Tony whimpered, the words muffled into Steve’s shirt as he shivered even in the warmth of the penthouse. His fingers scrabbled against Steve’s shoulders, fisting the fabric of his shirt as he sobbed.

“I’m not going anywhere Tony,” Steve whispered, keeping his arms firm around Tony until he found his eyes fluttering shut, head pillowed on Steve’s broad chest. “I’m right here.”

**_What's gonna kill you is the second part_ **

Tony slumped against the marble bar as he poured himself two fingers of whiskey. He watched the amber liquid swirl in the crystal glass with a frown as he opened his ice bucket. The metal tongs were cool against his fingers as he carefully dropped two cubes into his whiskey with a splash. They clinked together as Tony raised the glass to his lips. 

Suddenly the glass was being pulled from his grip, and Steve was tipping his whiskey into his own mouth. Blue eyes fixed him with a hard stare, and in that moment Tony had never felt so ashamed of himself. He dug his blunt fingernails into his palms, small crescents pressing into the thick skin. Tony gritted his teeth as waves of humiliation crashed over him, threatening to drown him.

“I told you I would be a good sponsor,” Steve whispered into the uncomfortable silence as he slid a comforting palm against Tony’s upper back. He used his other hand to brush Tony’s sweat-matted hair off his forehead. “Let’s get you some water okay?”

Steve didn’t wait for an answer. Just placed the empty glass in the sink and set the bottle back on the top shelf of the cabinet where Tony would have to climb onto the counter to reach. He closed the cabinet door, shooting Tony a reassuring smile as he found a red plastic Iron Man cup that Steve had bought team sets of.

“Thanks,” Tony murmured as Steve pressed the plastic cup full of cold tap water into his hand and motioned for him to take a sip. Tony threw it back, the cool liquid sliding down his throat as he swallowed it all down in a couple of gulps.

He sighed as he set the cup back down on the counter. Steve’s fingers were rubbing comforting circles on his arm as he took the barstool beside Tony. Tony leaned in to the touch, his head pressing into Steve’s shoulder as he let his eyes slip shut. He tilted his chin up to press his nose to the warmth of Steve’s neck.

He didn’t even notice falling asleep.

**_And the third is when your world splits down the middle_ **

Tony stood on the roof looking out to the city. New York was always so beautiful at dusk, with the sky painted in pretty pinks and deep blues as the sun sunk lower on the horizon. Standing up here, on the tower they had built together, his loss really hit home. He was holding a picture of him and Pepper in trembling hands. 

_“Failure is the fog through which we glimpse triumph.”_ And his relationship with Pepper sure had failed. Hindsight was always 20/20, but Tony would never get a second shot with her. With shaking fingers he slowly ripped the photo in half.

A sob slipped past his lips and he keened, his stomach rioting as he wretched over the side of the tower. But there was nothing in his stomach to expel.

“Woah woah.” Firm arms wrapped around his middle, pulling him back from the edge. And then he was being turned around and pulled into a broad chest. Steve.

“I-I c-ca-can’t.” Tony’s teeth chattered as he shivered violently, even in Steve’s warm embrace. He grasped the picture pieces in a death grip, half in each of his hands. The internet had said this would be therapeutic, yet Tony felt like he was ripping his own heart in half.

“Not yet maybe,” Steve whispered, his fingers running up and down the length of Tony’s spine, the other hand tangling with the hairs at the nape of Tony’s neck. “You will be able to.”

Tony pulled away and blanched at the large wet spot on Steve’s chest. He hadn’t even realized he was crying. His lower lip wobbled as he looked up at Steve. Steve, whose wide blue eyes hadn’t changed even when Tony’s entire world had shifted out of focus, unmoored. “I’m sorry I ruined your shirt.” 

“I have a dozen more.” Steve cupped Tony’s face, carefully brushing away his tears with the pads of his thumbs. “I’m more concerned about you, Tony.” Steve carefully pulled Tony into his side, arm firm around his shoulders as he lead him inside. “You’re freezing.”

Tony didn’t notice the goosebumps covering his arms. He frowned, trying to rub them away. There was a fire blazing in the fireplace that Tony didn’t remember starting, and Steve sat him down in front of it before grabbing a blanket and sitting down beside him.

Steve’s patience was admirable. He sat still as a statue, pressed against Tony under the blanket as he waited. The flames glimmered, reflected in his eyes as he absentmindedly ran his free hand up and down Tony’s arm to warm him.

“Pepper left me,” Tony whispered into the silence, his brain moving slowly for the first time in years. Like wading through an unyielding sea. Tony looked down at his fingers, shame curling hot and sick in his belly. “I wasn’t enough for Howard, or the kids at school, or her.”

Tears were sliding down Steve’s cheeks as Tony found his face pressed into Steve’s shoulder, their bodies fitting together in a hug. The heat of the flames warmed Tony’s back as Steve’s body enveloped him a comfortable embrace. Tony’s hands were steady as he slid them up Steve’s shoulders.

“You’re enough for us Tony,” Steve murmured into his hair, brushing a soft kiss to the skin behind his ear. “You’ll always be enough to me.”

**_And fourth, you're gonna think that you fixed yourself_ **

Steve Rogers was pretty awesome. Rebound sex had slowly turned into something more, and now Tony could finally say he was over Pepper. His fingers tapped a steady rhythm against the arc reactor as his eyes followed Steve’s sleeping form beside him. Steve must have really tired himself out fucking Tony into the mattress last night, because Tony was almost never awake before him.

He shifted over to cuddle into the warmth of Steve’s side, slowly lifting his arm to slide under him. The noise of Steve’s tags clinking against the arc reactor was like music to his ears as he settled with his back against Steve’s chest, their breathing syncing up. He turned to press a wet kiss to the milky skin underneath Steve’s ear before closing his eyes to fall back asleep.

He was just about to sink into unconsciousness when Steve moved behind him, turning to pull Tony fully against his front. They were molded together from shoulder to knee, Steve’s morning wood cradled into the slick curve of his ass. Tony felt kisses dropped across the back of his neck before Steve was pressing his nose into the slope of Tony’s shoulder.

“Good morning sunshine,” Tony grinned as Steve slowly ground up into him.

Tony gripped the arm that Steve circled around him, pressing fluttering kisses against the soft pads of his fingertips.

These were Tony’s favourite kind of mornings, wrapped up in Steve, neither of them wanting to leave the warmth of their bed. And it was theirs now. After breaking up with Pepper, Tony had a redecorater come in and pick out new furniture. Dark wood and new silk sheets that Pepper would have never approved of.

He didn’t even have any art on his walls; bare was a lot easier for him to throw up projections and work when nights were particularly bad. Steve didn’t even mind that Tony brought his work to bed, instead cuddling against him until he finally put it away to turn in. Tony absolutely adored him for that. For giving him freedom in a way that Pepper never had.

Moving on felt so good. Everyday, the ache in his chest became a little easier to bear, but with every forward step came ten back until Steve had finally filled the gaping space with something so much better—until Tony was brimming with love, his heart overwhelmed and working overtime to process all the affection he received on the daily. Cheek kisses in the mornings. Steve’s fingers pressing in to the small of his back whenever they went to press conferences. Fingers finding his under the table at debriefings. The warm weight of Steve’s arm around his. The dog tags around Tony’s neck, a physical reminder of Steve’s love for him

For once in his life, Tony was sinking in a good way, drowning in Steve’s love for him.

It was a nice change.

**_Fifth, you see them out with someone else_ **

Tony hated press events and any kind of gala where he had to wear a suit and play nice with donors, or investors, or business partners. Steve had picked out a dark red suit for him, playing up the Iron Man colour scheme with a burnt yellow tie. Steve was going in a nice blue tuxedo that made him look drop dead gorgeous; his boyfriend was obviously trying to kill him.

Tony pressed a quick, chaste kiss to his mouth in the limo before the stepped out into the blinding light of camera flashes, each one an explosion to his eyelids as he found himself tucked into Steve’s side.

They avoided most of the questions aimed at them, sunglasses in place with smiles plastered on. They stopped to pose for a couple of pictures, just one of them standing side by side and one of them with Steve’s arms settled around his shoulders. This party wasn’t very big, just donors and investors for Stark Industries clean energy solutions.

When he saw Pepper, he was transported back to years ago. She was decked out in the blue dress she had gotten herself for her birthday in what felt like forever ago. She had her fiery hair pulled back into an elegant updo, blue eyes rimmed in dark eyeliner.

She hadn’t seen him yet, busy talking to someone that Tony vaguely recognized as Elon Musk. He hadn’t seen him since the Monaco grand prix. He frowned, not really understanding why he was here.

And then Pepper was tilting her head up and kissing him, and it was like an EMP had gone off and Tony… Tony couldn’t fucking breathe. He could feel Steve’s warm fingers pressing into his shoulders, and his heart was being ripped out of his chest and oh god, he didn’t have a spare reactor, not anywhere nearby, and the shrapnel would inch towards his heart and rip it to shreds.

“Tony, doll.” Steve pulled him out of the ballroom, past a couple of confused guests. There was a sharp ringing in Tony’s ears as he vaguely registered Steve pushing open a door and leading Tony out onto the balcony.

The cold New York night seeped past the fabric of his suit jacket, and he relaxed against the railing, his breath puffing out in white clouds in front of his face as Steve pulled him into a warm hug. Delicate fingers carded through the hairs at the nape of his neck, the repetitive motion grounding in the wash of emotions flowing over the dam that Tony had slowly built up over the past few months.

“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” Tony choked out as he clung to Steve’s shirt. His fingers wrinkled the fabric, and he quickly jerked his hand away like a scolded child.

“Okay Tony.” Steve just pulled him back into his chest, taking deep breaths, “Just follow my breathing. We can leave as soon as you can take a deep breath for me.”

Tony relaxed against him, melting into his arms, face buried in his shoulder. He slowly inhaled, the familiar smell of leather and Irish soap that now clung to his sheets and lingered in his shower. He couldn’t even remember what Pepper smelled like, and he simultaneously loved and hated that lack of knowledge.

“I want to go home,” Tony whispered.

Steve nodded, pressing his cheek against Tony’s before brushing his lips against his forehead. Steve’s firm fingers slowly traced the loop of metal around Tony’s neck, sending shivers down his spine. “Alright doll, let’s go.”

Tony allowed himself to be carefully tucked into Steve’s side, sunglasses in place as they made a quick escape back home.

**_And the sixth is when you admit that you may have fucked up a little_ **

Tony loved Steve’s warm weight against his back as they sat on the roof, looking out to the New York skyline. He was sitting in the strong V of Steve’s split legs, his knees pulled up to his chest as he tilted his head back to look up at the stars stretched out in an ocean above them. It had been a year since Pepper left and the stars had never looked so bright.

Steve had his head buried in the curve of Tony’s shoulder, his breathing steady against Tony’s back as his fingers traced constellations on his arms.

“Steve.” Tony laced their fingers together to get his attention.

“Yes, doll?” Steve’s deep baritone flowed over him, settling his nerves and washing a calming wave over his skin.

“I’m really grateful for what you’ve done for me this past year.” Tony fiddled with the tags around his neck, rubbing his finger over Steve’s name, the repetitive motion relaxing his jitters. “You fit me in a way that I never fit Pepper. Over the last year, you’ve carefully smoothed over my ragged edges and soldered together the broken bits.”

Steve laughed wetly into his neck. “Only you would express your love through engineering metaphors,” Steve whispered, pressing a hot, open-mouthed kiss to his jaw.

Tony smiled, bringing Steve’s fingers up to brush against his lips. “You make me want to be better. I want to be so good for you.” Tony angled his head so he could look Steve in the eye, fishing the velvet box out of his pocket and flipping it open. “Marry me.”

Tears were glistening in Steve’s eyes as he nodded, pulling Tony closer to his chest and peppering kisses across his face before finding home on his lips, their mouths slotting together. Steve slowly pulled away pulling in ragged breaths as he cupped Tony’s jaw. 

“Yes, Tony yes please.”

Tony was on top of the world, grinning widely as he pulled the ring out of the box, sliding it up Steve’s finger before pressing a firm kiss to his knuckles.

Pepper was the first to congratulate him on his engagement. Tony found that her name didn’t hurt so much anymore.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Be sure to hit me up with a kudos and drop your commends on what you liked, disliked, and want to see in the future. I love every single one of you!  
> Come yell at me on [tumblr](https://starksnack.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
